Every Other Weekend
by SagittariusWarrior
Summary: All Human. Rose and Dimitri were high school sweethearts until things became too much. Now, they pass their two young children to each other every other weekend. Based off Reba's song Every Other Weekend. I don't own anything!
1. Rose

_Rose_

I pull up into the car pool lane and see my kids standing there with their backpacks hanging off on their shoulders and half at their elbows. They spot my CR-V and charge towards me, stopping just fast enough to open the door and dive in with injury. They were a reckless lot, but hey, they are my kids.

They buckle themselves in their seats and off we go to our cozy, little home. The entire ride home Annamarie, my seven-year-old daughter chatters about her day with her first grade teacher and how silly she is for making her write out _Annamarie Elizabeth Belikova_. She then goes on to tell me that she threw her composition book on the floor and refused to write a single word after her first name. God she was too much like me some times.

My son, ten-year-old Colton, tells me that when he wrote his name, it was easy. How hard was it for him, a smart, little boy, write out Colton Dimitri Belikov? He thought it was a piece of cake. He then tells me that his friends and he played ninja at recess and got yelled at when he tried to kick and punch like his daddy taught him.

"Colton, your daddy said not to use your moves on other kids. It's not nice," I chastise in a stern but gentle voice.

"But Mama! Austin was picking on Anna!" He throws his hands up in the air in exasperation. He is normally the levelheaded one, but when it comes to his sister, he'll do anything to protect her.

"That doesn't mean that you can beat up the other kids, Hun," I laugh. This only makes him slump in his seat and glare out the window. His brown eyes piercing the glass and his brown, shaggy hair falls into his face.

I pull into my garage and the kids and I get out of the car. They run up to their rooms to start packing their bags. They are so excited to go to their dad's. They only get to see him every other week since the divorce two years ago, and I know that they hate not having both parents in the same house anymore.

While they kids are packing, I go to the kitchen and check my messages. I had been out running errands all day today and I know that at least one of the messages on the machine was from Lissa. Sure enough, first one was from her.

_Rose! Hey! I'm sorry that I missed you, you must be out running around. I was just calling to see if you wanted to hang out with Mia and I tonight. No guys allowed so it's a GNO! Call me back if you want to come. Love you!_

I shake my head as the message cuts off. I grab a pen and write on my hand to call Lissa. I'll probably do that after I drop off the kids. I press a button on the machine and listen for the last message. I freeze when I hear his voice.

_Um, hi, Rose. I might be a little late getting to the park. The office is holding some kind of meeting with CEO's and everything so if I don't show up on time don't freak out. I'll be there as soon as I can. I'll see you later. Bye._

When the message comes to an end, I delete it immediately. I take a deep breath before going to check on my kids. Annamarie is ready to go and grabbing her jacket as she leaves her room. Colton is still hunting for his church shoes which are under his desk. I grab them and shove them into his bag. He looks up at me sheepishly and smiles.

"Thanks Mom."

I pat his back and smile back. "You're welcome Buddy."

I grab my keys off the counter and the three of us make out way to the car. The kids pile into the backseat and we pull out of the garage. We head to the park in town to meet their dad.

_Every other Friday_

_It's toys and clothes and backpacks_

_Is everybody in? Okay, let's go see Dad_

_Same time in the same spot_

_Corner of the same old parking lot_

_Half the hugs and kisses, they are always sad_

I pull into the parking lot in the spot that Dimitri and I picked out when the judge said that the kids would be passed back and forth every other week. I park my car and turn my body in the seat to look into the back seat easily.

Annamarie is reading a small chapter book for her Accelerated Reading homework while Colton played his Gameboy that Lissa gave him two Christmases ago. They looked so happy and innocent. I hate that they have to deal with my and Dimitri's differences.

I remember seeing their faces after a fight or when I would come back home from storming out an hour before. I would hold my daughter tightly as she cried into my shoulder and yelling at me for leaving her. She knew that I was just taking a run around the block to burn off some steam, but the fear of me never walking back through the door scared her to pieces back then.

Things were great between Dimitri and I. We had fallen in love during our high school days and became engaged our junior year in college. We got married shortly after graduation and I got pregnant with Colton about a year after that. Three years later, Annamarie came along and we thought things couldn't be any better. Boy, weren't we wrong.

Dimitri got promoted in the company that he worked at, Guardians and Company. The company, a nation-wide corparation that made home security devices, got major sales after the 9/11 Attack. That made Dimitri work more and that led to me taking care of everything else. It wasn't a bad thing, it's just that things became too stretched out. If one of us came home irritated, whether it be from work, running errands, or dealing with a kid that wasn't cooperating, we took it out on each other. Things just got worse as the years went by and we decided that it was best if we separated.

Now, two years later, we are passing kids off to each other. We both work our jobs, take the kids to school, go to soccer games and gymnastic meets, and doctor appointments. We work well like this, but sometimes it would be nice if I wasn't alone. Then again, we saw how well that worked out the first time.

_We trade a couple words_

_And looks and kids again_

_Every other weekend_

_**I hope you like it! I don't own anything! -SagWarrior**  
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	2. Dimitri

_Dimitri_

I pull out of the office parking lot and speed off to the park to pick up Colton and Annamarie. Stan, my boss, made me stay and entertain the new CEO Natasha Ozera. Honestly, I was bored out of my mind. The only thing I wanted while sitting in the conference room was seeing my kids. And maybe even Rose.

_Every other weekend, very few exceptions_

_I pick up the love we made in both my arms_

_It's movies on the sofa_

_Grilled Cheese and cut the crust off_

"_But that's not the way Mom makes it_

_Daddy" breaks my heart._

I take the ramp off the highway and drive down the back roads until I see the park sign. Rose and I chose this spot because it was so close to the office and her house that it wasn't an issue for either of us to get there fast. I pull in and park beside Rose's maroon CR-V. She turns around to see me and abruptly turns away, probably to tell our kids that I am here.

I climb out of my car just as Colton launches himself at me. I catch him and his Transformers backpack easily in my arms and hug him close. He hugs me just as tightly before he wiggles free to get into my car.

Annamarie is standing with her mother talking softly. I watch as she hugs Rose tightly and kisses her cheek. Rose kisses her back and gives her a smile.

"It's okay, Baby. You'll see me next Sunday," Rose sooths and she tucks a strand of glossy, brown, curly hair behind our daughter's ear.

"I love you, Mommy," Annamarie says before she walks over to me. Her Hello Kitty backpack that Viktoria gave her at the start of the school year drags behind her.

I pick up my daughter and hug her, her little arms wrap around my neck and squeezes. I set her down and she climbs in to her booster seat next to her brother. I shut the door and turn to Rose. She hands me Colton's soccer ball and the kids' duffel bag with their clothes in it for the week.

"Here you go," she says as I grab the bag from her.

"Thanks," I mutter. This is the part that hurts the most: being in front of the woman that I love dearly and only to know that we are over.

_I miss everything_

_I used to have with her again_

_Every other weekend._

"I guess I'll see you next time?" Rose guesses.

I nod simply. I don't trust my voice to say 'yes' just in case something comes out that I can't say. Something along the lines of "I love you."

She takes a step back and turns. Without thinking, almost like I wasn't even moving, I drop the soccer ball and grab her hand. She instantly spins around with a look of shock and alarm on her face. She registers that it is my hand that is holding hers and she looks into my eyes. So many emotions run through her deep, brown eyes. So much hurt and pain stands out above the rest, though. Pain I had caused by pushing her too hard while we were still married.

_I can't tell her I love her_

_(I can't tell him I love him)_

_Cause there's too many questions_

_And ears in the car_

I drop her hand and watch her hesitate before she turns away and walks back to her car. She gets in and drives away, not even giving me a second glance, and heads home to be alone for the next week.

I open my door after picking up the soccer ball from the pavement. The kids are chattering away happily about things that they can do at home and what trouble they can get into in their tree house that I built a few years ago. I drive home listening to their sweet voices and think about how things used to be before they got complicated.

**So after reading the first chapter, i noticed that there are a lot of mistakes! I'm sorry that you guys had to read that, but I am glad that so many of you like this seeing that my inbox is almost full lol. I hope you like this chapter! This story isn't done till that 'complete' comes up on the page :) -SagWarrior**


	3. Lonely Rose

_Rose_

My hand burns from where he touched it back at the park. I grip my steering wheel and press down on the gas pedal until I come upon my driveway where I reduce my speed. When my car is in the garage, I turn off the vehicle and stare at my hands. They are shaking like crazy and there is nothing I can do about it.

I close my eyes and squeeze them. Dimitri's pleading face, the face that haunts me in my dreams, is burning in the back of my eyelids. He had that face on when he grabbed my hand back at the park, he wore it when we had our first big fight that resulted in a broken lamp and a whole in the wall. He had it on when the judge finally finalized the divorce and then again when he heard that we had to share our children.

So much love, sadness, anger, and regret were in those big brown eyes. For some reason, I can't help but think that these emotions were and still are in my eyes. I don't open them and check in the rear view mirror to test my theory.

_So I don't tell him I miss him_

_(I don't tell her I need her)_

_She's over me, that's where we are_

_So we're as close as we might ever be again_

_Every other weekend_

I stare at my TV that is showing an old Friends episode to help ease the silence away from me. I am glaring at it actually. It is the one where Monica and Chandler gets married. God how much I want that. The perfect love and the perfect marriage was all I wanted when I was a little girl. Now, I just want someone to hold me at night and tell me that he loves me. Sad thing is, I might have given that man up because of some stupid stuff that made life a little rough at times.

_Every other Saturday, first thing in the morning_

_I turn the TV on to make the quiet go away_

_I know why, but I don't know_

_Why we ever let this happen_

_Fallin' for forever was a big mistake_

I get up off the couch and, like every other cliché woman going through a rough divorce, I grab a scrapbook that Lissa had made a couple years before the split. When I settle back on the couch, I flip to the front page. Annamarie and Colton as babies and Dimitri and I at our wedding. I quickly flip the page to make the tears stop forming in my eyes.

The next page is simple. Colton in all of his childhood Halloween costumes with Annamarie in hers. It was so cute and precious. What makes me laugh is when I see a picture from when the kids are about four and one, Dimitri's long legs were behind the kids while his hands were supporting Annamarie who was standing up. I remember how his face was then. Happy and smiling at his kids, but his eyes had told me that he was scared out of his mind when it came to letting Annamarie stand on her own.

I continue to flip through the book as Monica and Chandler exchange their vows. My whole life as Mrs. Belikova was spread out in front of me and God did I miss the good stuff.

Sighing, I close the book and wipe the tears off my face. I turn off the TV and curl up in a ball to sleep. Only a week more of this torture before I am occupied with taking care of my kids again and I can stop wallowing in my own self-pity.

_There's so much not to do_

_And all day not to do with him_

_Every other weekend_


	4. Dimitri's Heartache

_Dimitri_

It's that time again, the time that I give my kids back to their mother. Colton, Annamarie, and I had fun together. We had gone to the movies, the bowling alley, and even to the gym where they ran around the track at top speed for about and hour. They love running so much.

I pull into the park again like I had two weekends ago to pick up the kids. I leave a space between Rose's car and mine. Colton jumps out and takes off towards his mother's car. She comes out to greet him with a smile and laugh as he falls into the CR-V. Annamarie takes her time getting from my car and getting her things.

I go to the car trunk to give Rose Colton's bags. She follows behind me and, as much as I know it will never happen, I wish and pray that she will touch my arm and kiss me so that I can sit her on top of the closed trunk top and kiss her with all that I had. I used to do that all the time. That was also when we were happily married.

I hand her our son's duffle bag and she gives me a smile. It is a small one that doesn't fully reach her eyes, but it is a smile nonetheless.

She turns around and walks to her car. She puts the CR-V in reverse and starts to pull away again, but this time, she slowly looks up at me and stares. She's searching fro something in my face, but I am at a loss for what it could be. She seems to find it because she turns back to the road and drives off.

_Every other Sunday I empty out my beakseat_

_While my children hug their mother in the parking lot_

_We don't touch, we don't talk much_

_Maybe goodbye to each other_

_As she drives away with every piece of my heart I got_

After watching Rose and the kids drive home, I finally get into my own car. I drive home in silence and enter my apartment only to be greeted with more silence. The bad thing about having joint custody was that when the children are not around, everything is silent. It wouldn't be this way if Rose and I never got divorced.

I fall onto my couch and let my head fall into my hands. I stare at the carpet between my feet. A small stain from when Colton first came over here after the divorce stared at me. Grape Juice. That's what it is. Funny how the little things stick with you after a while.

I push myself up off the couch and go into my bedroom. I flop onto the bed and look over at my nightstand. A picture of Rose and I stands in a silver frame. You can't see my face, only the back of my head, only Rose's face is visible. She is looking up at me with so much love, trust, and excitement in her face that she is radiant. The photo was taken the day I proposed. If only I knew what I know now maybe I could have saved myself the heartache.

_You idiot, Those years with Rose, married or dating, were the best years of your life!_

I laugh at the voice in my head. The years I had spent with Rose were the best years of my life, but we had made a choice to end it. We made the right choice for our kids. They didn't need the stress of two fighting parents. Hell, we could barely handle it and we were adults. We made the right decision…I think.

_I re-convince myself_

_We did the right thing_

_Every other weekend_

_I can't tell her I lover her_

_(I can't tell him I love him)_

_Cause there's too many questions_

_And ears in the car_


	5. Family

_Rose_

I pull up to the parking lot in the park for again. Annamarie and Colton are sitting silently in the back seat behind me. I look over to my left to see an empty parking place. My right side is just as vacant.

I put my car in park and sit in my seat. My mind wanders to old memories of Dimitri and I while I wait for him to show up. This part, the waiting, was the second hardest thing about this whole joint custody thing. The first was the fact that I had to see him. He would never know just how much I still love him, how much I still miss him. I feel my eyes start to tear up and my heart shred into a million pieces again. This had become so normal that I don't flinch at the pain anymore.

I blink rapidly to clear my vision just as Dimitri pulls up beside me. I get out to get my kids' things as they run off to their father. He hugs them and I see the love and pride in his eyes. He loves our children more than anything else in this world. It breaks my heart to know that I can't see that love and pride everyday at a home that we share as a family.

_So I don't tell him I miss him_

_(I don't tell her I need her)_

_She's over me, that's where we are_

_We're as close as we might ever be again_

_Every other weekend._

I walk over with the duffle bags as Dimitri helps Annamarie with her seat bealt. He turns around and looks at me before taking the bags and dumping them in the trunk.

"Colton's got a soccer game sometime this week. He'll tell you dates, times, and places if you ask him," I say.

"Won't you be there?" Dimitri asks

"Only if you want me to be," I whisper softly.

Dimitri stares at me. My words have caught him off guard. He recovers though, and reaches for my face. His fingers brush against my cheek and jaw line. I stare into his deep chocolate eyes that I love so much. I reach up and lightly kiss his lips. It was barely a touch, but it was enough for the familiar electric shock to course through my body. I feel at home once again.

_Yeah, for fifteen minutes_

_We're a family again_

_God, I wish that he was still with me again_

_Every other weekend._

__**Okay guys, that's the end of this story. I hope that you all enjoyed this little song-fic and don't hate me too much for ending it. I enjoyed writing this and listening to Reba on repeat to make sure that the lyrics are right. **

**With Love,**

**-SagWarrior**


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